ST upgrades 32-bit MCU range

DSP, Micros & Memory

9 November 2011 DSP, Micros & Memory

STMicroelectronics announced the introduction of its new STM32 F4 series of microcontrollers. This extension to the STM32 platform is based on the latest ARM Cortex-M4 core, which adds signal processing capabilities and faster operations to the existing portfolio.

Over and above the range of applications the STM32 range already caters to – metering, medical services, point of sales (POS), building security and automation, home audio, and others – ST is further extending its target applications with the STM32 F4 series. The single-cycle DSP instructions of the F4 open the doors to the digital signal controller (DSC) market that requires high computational capability and DSP instructions for demanding applications such as high-end motor control, medical equipment and security.

By providing a simple, full pin-to-pin and software compatible upgrade from the STM32 F2 series with more SRAM, higher performance and a robust collection of peripherals, the F4 series will enable customers designing with the STM32 F2 series microcontrollers to offer product extensions by upgrading to the F4 series if they need more memory, performance or features. In addition, customers currently using a two-chip MCU and DSP approach can now combine both chips in one high-performance digital signal controller.

The F4 series operates at a higher frequency than the F2 (168 MHz instead of 120 MHz), offers single-cycle DSP instruction support and a floating point unit, larger SRAM (192 KB vs. 128 KB), embedded Flash memory from 512 KB up to 1 MB and advanced peripherals for imaging, connectivity and encryption.

The F4 series is available in four variants:

STM32F405x: in addition to a set of peripherals including timers, three ADCs, two DACs, serial interfaces, external memory interface, RTC, CRC calculation unit and analog true random number generator, the STM32F405 products have a USB On-the-Go (OTG) full-speed/high-speed interface. They are available in four packages (WLCSP64, LQFP64, LQFP100, LQFP144) with 1 MB of Flash.

STM32F407 products add several advanced peripherals to the ones offered on the STM32F405: a second USB OTG interface (full-speed only); an integrated Ethernet MAC 10/100 supporting both MII and RMII, with IEEE1588 Precise Time Protocol v2 hardware support and an 8- to 14-bit parallel camera interface allowing the connection of a CMOS camera sensor, supporting up to 67,2 MBps. Devices are available in four packages (LQFP100, LQFP144, LQFP/BGA176), with 512 KB to 1 MB of Flash.

The STM32F415 and STM32F417 parts add a crypto/hash processor to the STM32F405 and STM32F407. This crypto/hash processor includes hardware acceleration for AES 128, 192, 256, Triple DES, HASH (MD5, SHA-1). As an example of the performance achieved by the crypto/hash processor, the AES-256 encryption throughput reaches up to 149,33 MBps.

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ST upgrades 32-bit MCU range

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